Charly Martin is a 22-year-old blond regularfoot from Guadeloupe. He loves listening to Lil Wayne, hanging out with Joan Duru and Marc Lacomare and generally representing the strength of street knowledge. Last week he went to the ghettos of Newquay, rose up and overcame the forces of Babylon and all the bumbaclaats and won the Relentless Boardmasters, with nothing but an underpants sponsor! Here is a slightly prophetic interview we did with the lad recently-ish…

Photo: Laurel

1. Now that Charles Martin is not sponsored, is he gonna go mad in the comps and live off prize money like a hungry Brazilian? Is Charles Martin gonna do a Bede and get in the Top 5 with nothing but an underwear sponsor and free wax?
Hahaha, I am gonna try my best in the comps and try to make it as far as I can with or without sponsors. I don’t do it for anyone except my home and my self.

2. It’s hard times for a lot of people with the financial crisis. What’s Charles Martin’s tips for making dollar go further?
When you are broke, you got to get more organized, book flights earlier, learn how to cook, and stay focused on what you wanna accomplish.

3. If Charles Martin were president…?
I’d stop the Wars all over the world, cause they send our people to get killed and to kill for money and oil. I would stop the colonialist politics that have been going for so much years, stop the robbing of poor peoples’ lands. And I’ll make Guadeloupe capital of the world haha.

4. Is the QS still fun for Charles Martin, or is it just hanging out with the same turkeys but at different places, really far away?
It’s been really fun this year. I’ve been to places that I’ve never been before like China, as well as Fernando and West Oz. I haven’t got any results, but they’ll come, I’m trying hard. Marc and Joan have been ripping hard every session, mixing power surfing and tricks, it’s epic traveling and surfing with them. The WQS can be rad if you want it to be, it’s summer time all the time. It’s kind of the same everywhere we go, but still fun.

5. Charles Martin’s amazing predictions: Who’s gonna win the XXL? Who’s gonna win gold at London 2012?
XXL: There are so many chargers, but let’s say Bruce, Nathan, Dorian and Sanchovich are my pick for 2012. London: Phelps is going to win at least four gold medal cause he listens to Lil Wayne, Usain is going to break records once again cause he’s from the Caribbean and is faster than bullets. And Terry is going to smoke everyone because he is from Guadeloupe.

6. Everyone’s got a blog these days… Apart from french-connexion.tv, what other websites does Charles Martin dig?
Yes I know it is crazy how many surf website their is. But I think most of them are boring, they all do the same airs, same haircut and they all have the same gay swag. Surfing is going the wrong way since A.I passed away. But I do check some of them, Dane’s is sick, I love to watch Mason Ho surf too, I think he’s got character. I do go on youjizz.com sometimes but don’t tell anyone.

7. Now that Charles Martin is 22, does he feel like more of a man than when he was a junior? How many days does it take Charles Martin to grow a beard?
I spent my 22nd on the boat in the mentawaii for the french-connexion.tv,sounds more mature to me,i used to celebrated so hard for at least 3 days straight. You know what, when i was a young boy I had to be a man cause of all the shit that was going on around me, and I promise my self to never be a man again, there is no point, it puts your head in a bad place. So my friend, I think it’s better to respect the people that are around you, and everything will go your way. I hope to be a kid for ever…

for more Martin, be sure to check: THE FRENCH CONNEXION Sure, it may look like the photo noticeboard in a bar circa 2002, but it has some good surfin!